Indian bureaucrats are often termed ‘babus'. In popular imagination, this name can have many connotations — the accentuated lords, the first generation, the shahanshah, and the risers. But what's in a name after allIJ Nothing
British General, Sir Walter Walker said, “Britain has invented a new missile. It’s called the civil servant — it doesn’t work and it can’t be fired.” To be selected as a civil servant, Indian bureaucrats have to go through a complex competitive examination procedure which has no parallel in the world. Out of thousands of candidates, only some hundreds are selected. Thus, India has one of the lowest number of per capita officers as it believes in the idea of a small Government.
Bureaucrats in India are often termed ‘babus’ in Hindi which also means ‘father’ in the same language. Since the colonial era, they have been enjoying a father-like status across the country. However, there is no authentic evidence as to how the civil servants in India, came to be known as ‘babu log’.
Babu Nagar, a book by Hussain Ahmad Sherazi, gives a detailed account of the cold and steely world of officialdom. Sherazi has missed nothing in his book. It even includes the most dreaded part of a bureaucrat’s life — retirement and the life after it.
The different kinds of babus that he has mentioned includes political babus, babus in khaki, business babus, judicial babus, religious babus, medical babus, literary babus, media babus, artist babus and even lady babus. In other words, almost every professional sector of our society has babu log.
The word ‘babu’ has different definitions. A babu means a “prince, noble, man of family or distinction; a title of respect (as) Sir, Mr, Esqre (Esquire); young master; father; a term of endearment applied to children; a clerk or writer in an office,” says John T Platts in his renowned lexicon A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi and English. Similarly, the 11th edition of Concise Oxford English Dictionary states it as a respectful title or a form of address for a man.
The connotation ‘babu’, sharply raises the emotional self of the bureaucrats in India. In the popular imagination, there can be various categories of Government officials — the accentuated lords, the first generation, the shahanshah, and the risers.
These accentuated lords are dominating and have an overbearing personality with a strong paternal attitude towards his subordinates and subjects. They are very good in work and know the rules by heart. Generosity and munificence are their two distinct hallmarks.
The first generation bureaucrats attends office on time. Disposes off the files on schedule; usually carry out the orders of their superiors and attended to public grievances with all sincerity. Work is serious business with them and rarely do they shirk it. During disasters, they never hesitate to wet their feet and work hard to ensure relief to the victims. Official tours are strictly work — files to be checked, public greviances to be heard, work to be inspected, etc.
The new shahanshah are those struggling students who are bright in studies. They make it to the coveted All India services and life changes thereafter. Chucking the memories of grinding poverty and the hard work of their father who struggled to pay his hostel and tuition fees, the lad quickly becomes the new king.
The contribution of the Indian cinema in portraying the image of babudom is immensely powerful in influencing the minds of the populace. Dev Benegal’s English, August (1994), an adaptation of Upamanyu Chatterjee’s novel English, August: An Indian Story, would make a perfect double bill with Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. English, August’s parade of curious characters, with its anglicised pot-loving and self-pleasuring bureaucrat topping the list, is a lovely study of the often surreal adventures of an accentuated official amid the people of the fictitious town of Madna.
Dibakar Banerjee’sShanghai (2012), makes a hero out of the babu who is faced with a new kind of nexus between several stakeholders. The actor comes up with his own devices to deal with one such nexus, which involves exhibiting an untested acumen to deal with the matter. Shanghai suggests that it is possible to stoop to conquer, even if the victory is short-lived.
There are many more movies that depict various situations that the bureaucrats have to live with and their predicaments as they try to negotiate their way through conflicting interests — they are damned if they do, and hung if they don’t.
The experiences of the helpless Indian citizen and the often intransigent Indian Government official are shot through with frustration, tension and anger. Commercial cinema offers quick-fix answers to the problem — it usually involves a vigilante solution that reflects the emotion correctly but cannot be replicated in real life.
Despite all the pros and cons of the Indian bureaucracy today, every young Indian keeps civil services as his first choice when he decides his career plan. Some even decline offers from top universities like the Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology just to serve the nation. Each year, the topper of the Indian civil services examination becomes a national hero and an inspiration for others.
Rajendra Prasad and Jagjivan Ram — the two great leaders of India were popularly known with a prefix ‘babuji’. As some say, “An officer is known or remembered for his or her performance and not the name or its prefix.” What’s in a name after allIJ Nothing.